Into Darkness
by Number Ten
Summary: With the last safe place gone and the organization torn to pieces, a lone member tries to keep the spark alive. He meets with the last trusted person and both begin a journey to rise from the ashes. One goes on her own, to rescue those she cares about most, the other to fix what is broken. But time is working against them and with enemies everywhere, their spark may just go out.


Prologue: A Risk He Must Take

The shadows of the night cast over the streets, creating sharp silhouettes as a girl hurries along, her destination also shadowed in mystery. She carried something rather heavy in her arms, perhaps a parcel, wrapped in brown paper, but she remained steadfast to get where she needed to be. Her heart beat against her chest, anxiety creeping up her spine with every passing moment. The danger was near, she could feel it. Even though it was late at night, enemies were everywhere, she had learned that a long time ago.

She turns the corner of another street, shielding her face from the golden light of the lamps hanging from above. She counts two small alleys, both tiny and hidden by towering apartment buildings, both of which had not been lived in for some time. At the third alleyway, the girl turns, going down the narrow passageway, till the very end where there was a large towering fence made of wood. The girl pulls at the middle board, which comes loose like it had for many people before her. She slides through, despite the weight of her heavy parcel.

She then comes upon a manhole cover, one that looked like any other in this filthy city. With very little effort, she slides the cover off with her foot, revealing a very dark hole that seemed to lead into the abyss. Undeterred by the darkness below her, as if the earth was waiting to swallow her whole, the girl climbs down a small metal ladder, with some difficulty of the heavy package under her arm.

Once she is at the bottom, she places her bundle down and climbs the ladder, pulling the manhole cover back over the opening. She then retrieves her belongings, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark.

She then pulls a torch from her coat pocket and turns it on. A lone beam of light stretches out in front of her, like one single eye trying to penetrate the curtain of darkness. She forces herself to walk along, avoiding any unwanted puddles at her feet. The distinct pattern of her steps echoes off the walls of the passageway. The girl knew she had to hurry, there was not much time.

At last, the torch's light landed on a figure, barely lit by the tool the girl carried. Her heart skipped a beat as she approached. A man, it seemed, dressed in a large overcoat, a hat with a wide brim pulled over his slightly graying hair. He too seemed to be carrying a few parcels of his own.

The girl picks up the pace and finally reaches the man she was supposed to meet. Without hesitation, the man asks her something.

"Well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?"

The girl answers without equal vacillation, "The question is, has she been good to me?"

With a reaffirming nod, the man turns, the girl puts down her torch and parcel, embracing the man fully. She had not seen him in what felt like years, even though not much time had passed at all. She gives him a lukewarm smile in the darkness, her bright eyes shining in the dim light surrounding them.

"I've missed you," she whispers.

"As have I," the man answers.

"How bad was it?" she asks, getting right down to the most important matter.

The man does not answer, he turns to look over his shoulder a few times, to ensure that they are not being watched or eavesdropped on. He then hands a folded newspaper from under his arm to the girl.

Picking up her torch again, the girl squints to read the headline.

 ** _Hotel In Flames, Arson Suspected_**

Despite the newspaper from which the headline was being advertised, both individuals knew that it was true. The girl does her best to fight back any tears, for sorrow was not appropriate now. The last safe place had gone up in smoke, much like the rest of their world had. Though from different generations, both figures standing in this passageway had experienced much heartbreak and tragedy, most of which involved fires and death.

"Do you think they did it?" the girl asks in a hoarse whisper.

"I think it's best not to know," the man whispers.

"How many died?"

"A few, but our loss was not great."

The girl feels relieved, letting a small breath of respite escape her lips. If there were still volunteers in the world, there was still hope.

"Unfortunately, our enemies also did not suffer many casualties either."

She swallows hard in anxiety. "Does that mean…?"

"Yes," he says, confirming the girl's fears. She looks down at the paper once more before tossing it to the side.

"Several more were attacked elsewhere, by air and sea. Then…" the man pauses as if to collect himself. "The Great Unknown took them."

The younger of the two people, feels a shudder go up against her spine. She knew little of this beast… that was the way she preferred it. No one in their organization would tell her what it was, claiming that the mere mentioning of the truth could drive a man insane. How her ally had managed to keep his sanity was beyond her understanding. The girl has learned long ago to not ask questions because often there would be no answers.

"Was… Was…" she asks, her voice cracking at the thought of someone who she was very close to meeting such a terrible fate.

The man merely nods.

This time the girl lets the tears fall, but she does not let any noise escape her lips. It was okay to mourn those she cared about, but the pain had to be expressed silently. The man hugs the girl tightly again, giving her affection that he did not often express. He knew there was still much that they had to do, but the bad news would be followed by some hope.

"But that's not where the story ends…" he says.

The girl pushes back to look at the man. Her eyes confused, her cheeks still shiny.

"What do you mean?"

"It is likely that they were saved by it but fell into the hands of our enemies."

The girl feels her heart skip a beat. If there was a chance that he was alive, she wanted it to be true, she could not lose any more people.

"How…how do you know?" she asks.

The man takes something from his coat pocket and hands it to the girl. It was a photograph of what appeared to be two figures, one with rather dark hair but a youthful face and the other, with no hair upon his head to speak of and instead around his chin. Her stomach flipped a few times, once in excitement and once in fear. She knew both the figures, despite that the image was slightly out of focus.

"Are you sure it's him?" she asks.

"Quite sure, this was taken only a week ago."

"He's alive," she whispers to herself, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her hand traces the blurry figure of the person she had fallen for. The moment of grief had passed and now she had to replace the sorrow with bravery.

"They most likely all are," the man says. "But our enemies all went their separate ways, to throw everyone off and make it more difficult to be reunited."

"What do we do now?" she asks.

"We find a way to track them," he answers.

"But how, if they are as good at hiding as you are…"

"We start at the beginning," the man answers. "Where the last safe place once was, fortunately, our sub-sub librarian knew how to protect his information."

While confused the girl simply nods.

The man hands her a map on how to navigate a city that was not her own.

"We must travel separately, for if one of us is captured, they will only have half of the information they want."

The girl swallows and nods. She'd been on her own for a long time now, she expected loneliness to be a constant presence in her life from now on. She still thought of him, in the clutches of their enemies. What horrible torture it must be. She became determined then to rescue him, no matter what the cost may be.

"We will meet there in three days time," the man says. "You will have to start the search without me. If I do not return from my errands, you must push on. Find them on your own."

The man knew the kind of burden that would be on this young girl, scarcely a day from turning fifteen herself. He understood the hardships she'd experienced, he knew all about loss and everything going up in flames. He knew how frustrated she must be to have so many secrets and stories around her, ones in which made the world much scarier and more sinister. A heavy porcelain object, still slightly damp from when it was retrieved from its hiding place, weighed in his coat pocket. It weighed his body down like an anchor, one more secret that he had to keep, to protect her and the world in which they lived.

He looks at the girl again and leans down, giving her a kiss on the head, much like her father used to do. He knew it was a form of comfort for her, and if made her feel safe when the world was dark and confusing. She smiles up at him and gives him a strong hug, one of longing, one of confusion and one of hope.

The girl then turns to hand the large package that she had been carrying to him. He gives her a small smile of his own. He tears open the brown wrapping covering the package and in the dim light can read its title, typed in the neatest font the girl could manage.

She had been far and wide, wide and far to gather all this information. To make sure it was safe and never fell into the wrong hands. It had nearly cost her life a few times, but now, it was where it belonged.

"Are you sure the time is right?" the girl asked.

"We need as many allies as we can," the man answers. "If this does not draw them out of hiding, then we are on our own."

"What if they don't?" she asks.

The man looks at his beloved niece, who was now his oldest niece. He knew she was skeptical of what he planned to do, but life was full of risks, ones that they must take.

Both figures, uncle and niece stare down at the thick stack of manuscripts, with the title page reading;

 _ **A Series of Unfortunate Events**_

 _A/N: A real mystery is coming_


End file.
